SPECIAL ACTION ALERT:
NEW LEGISLATION ON LANDMINES

March 2001

ISSUE:

On March 7-10, over 200 people representing 45 states came to Washington D.C. for the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines' Legislative Action Conference. The participants talked to their Members of Congress about landmine issues and garnered support for recently introduced legislation in Congress. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the Landmines Elimination and Victim Assistance Act of 2001 (S. 497) in the Senate, and Reps. Lane Evans (D-IL), Jack Quinn (R-NY), and James McGovern (D-MA) introduced a companion bill (H.R. 948) in the House.

This legislation (1) sends a message to the President that Congress wants the United States to sign the Mine Ban Treaty, (2) extends the current U.S. prohibition on the export of antipersonnel landmines and anti-tank landmines, (3) urges the military to field treaty- compliant alternatives to antipersonnel landmines, and (4) provides support to landmine victim assistance projects.

CALL OR WRITE your Senators and Representative and urge them to co-sponsor the Landmines Elimination and Victim Assistance Act of 2001. The U.S. is already a leader in humanitarian efforts to help clear mines. The U.S. should also set a good example by signing the Mine Ban Treaty and providing more assistance to landmine survivors.

Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Sen. ________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Rep. ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

To locate your members of Congress and find more information about them,
check the following websites: www.senate.gov, www.house.gov, or
www.congress.org.

The Friends Committee for National Legislation has developed an online
system to send e-mail letters to members of Congress. Start with the sample
letter posted on the Internet, personalize the language, then send the
message directly from the site or print it out and mail it. Click Here , enter your zip code, then click <Go> in the <Take Action Now> box.

BACKGROUND: Landmines indiscriminately kill and maim innocent civilians. The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates that upwards of 26,000 people lose their lives and limbs to landmines each year. In 1994, President Clinton called for a global ban on antipersonnel landmines. In 1997, an international treaty to ban landmines was created, but President Clinton then announced that the United States would not sign the treaty until 2006, and then only if "suitable alternatives" to landmines were found. The president asked the military to begin developing alternatives to antipersonnel landmines, but it does not appear that these will be ready by 2006.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) has identified the United States as a special target country, and the March conference in Washington, DC was the first-ever global landmine movement meeting in the U.S. The Bush Administration has not yet made any policy statement on the banning of antipersonnel mines. The State Department and Pentagon are currently reassessing of U.S. policy as part of the Quadrennial Defense Review.

Of particular concern to the U.S. are the over one million mines laid in
South Korea, which the Pentagon views as a necessary line of defense against attack from the north. As the danger of war on the Korean peninsula recedes, this claim is increasingly difficult to justify. Furthermore, experience from other conflicts suggests that mines are at least as likely to wound or kill U.S. soldiers and allies as they are to stop an enemy attack. Civic groups in Korea have also identified a growing number of civilian victims.

To date, 139 countries have joined the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, of which 110 have ratified. These include all of the U.S.'s NATO allies except Turkey and all countries in the Western Hemisphere except the U.S. and Cuba. In Asia and the Pacific, key advocates of the treaty include Japan, Cambodia and Australia. Among the countries that have not yet joined the treaty are
China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and both North and South Korea.

The ICBL's global monitoring project, Landmine Monitor, reports that over
the past two years, virtually all trends are positive, notably decreased
use, fewer new mine victims, and more land being cleared of mines. "While we still find instances of use of anti-personnel mines, the Mine Ban Treaty
is having a significant impact on alleviating the global mine problem,"
says ICBL Ambassador Jody Williams, co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace
Prize.

The treaty bans the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of
antipersonnel mines. It also requires countries to clear mines in the
ground within ten years after signing, and to provide assistance to other
countries to do the same. Even before the U.S. joins the treaty, it can
begin to move closer to treaty requirements by limiting its production and
export of mines, clearing mines laid around the world, and assisting mine
victims and survivors. The legislation under consideration in Congress
proposes these steps as it calls on President Bush to sign the Mine Ban
Treaty.